Garage door



H; G. AINSWORTH GARAGE DOOR Filed A ril e, 1925 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 1,544,543 H. G. AINSWORTH July 7, 1925.

GARAGE DOOR 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed April 6, 1923 July 1, 1925.

H. G. AINSWQRTH GARAGE noon Filed April, 6, 1923 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Patented July 7, 1925.

UNITED STATES HARRY G. AINSWORTH, 0F KENTLAND, INDIANA.

GARAGE noon.

Application filed April 6, 1923. Serial No. 630,403.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HARRY a citizen of the United States, residing at Kentland, in the county of Newton and State of Indiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Garage Doors, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the reference characters marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to improvements in automatic devices .for opening and closing doors and more particularly to doors on barns and garages.

' The principal object of the invention is to provide a door opening mechanism that may be put in operation from the outside of the door-closed building, by merely operating a switch or push button in an electric circuit. Another object is to provide a mechanism of the class described which may be set in operation by the occupant of an automobile or other vehicle without leav- G. AJNSWORTH,

! ing the latter. Another object of the invention is to adapt the door opening mechanism to a plurality of doors, actuated by the electrical energy supplied from a single source of supply. A further object of the invention is to furnish a mechanism of the class described, which will be of the simplest possible construction, easy to install, not liable easily to get out of order, positive in operation, and cheap to manufacture, and therefore not only within the reach of all butalso fool-proof and readily operated by unskilled persons.

These and other objectsyand advantages of the invention will be more readily comprehended as I proceed with my specification,the invention consisting in the devices herein illustrated, described and claimed.

' In the drawings, wherein I have shown one embodiment of my invention:

.Fig. 1 illustrates the inside of a .garage or other building, equipped with my invention, the inside of the doors and end of the building being in elevation.

Fig. 2 is a horizontal sectional plan View of the same, taken upon the plane indicated by the dotted line 2-2 of Fig. 1, looking down as indicated by the arrows.

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view of the same, taken in the plane indicated by the dotted line 33 of Fig. 2, and looking in the direction shown by the arrows.

Fig. 4 is a view, enlarged, of a part of the operating shaft, and the contact brush arm attached thereto, the regulator and support. ing bracket being in section taken in the plane of the dotted line H of Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is a face view of a regulator and contact brush, and lay-out of the electric circuit.

Fig. 6 is a plan view, enlarged, of the hinge toggle arm connections, looking down as indicated at 6-6 in Fig. 7.

Fig. 7 is a side View of the same.

Fig. 8 is a view of the door connection showing its adjustable feature.

In said drawing, A represents a garage or other building, as a whole, having in its end wall a: the doors 6, 0, hinged at d to a suitable door opening, side walls 6, f, and a top g. To the ceiling or top wall 9 is secured, by a bracket 1, a motor M, provided on its'shaft with a worm 2. An operating shaft 3, carrying a worm gear 4, is suitably mounted in brackets 5, 5, from the ceiling g, and projects at its ends beyond the end bracket 5, so as to have mounted thereon a crank arm 6. As there are two doors b, 0, so there are two crank arms 6, 6,one at each end of the shaft 3. These crank arms 6, 6, are adjustably mounted by means of the nuts 7, 7. A lifting rod 8 is pivotally connected at its upper end to the free end 9 of the arm 6, while the lower end of the rod 8 is provided with an apertured disc shaped lug 10, and is pivotally connected to devices attached to the door and to'a wall or fixed support in any suitable or convenient manner. One such means of connection is herein illustrated as follows. To similar and interlocking lugs 11, the said lug 10 is pivotally secured by the pin or pivot bolt 12, constituting a hinge, indicated as a whole at 13. The attaching plate member 14 of the hinge is adjustably connected to a staple 15 on the side wall 6, while the otherplate member 16 is similarly connected to a staple 17 on the back of the door I).

The connecting means comprises a hook member 18 adapted to engage the staple 15 and exteriorly screw threaded on its unhooked end; a plate 19 secured by screws 20 or otherwise to the plate member 14, said plate 19 having an exteriorly screw threaded end-member 21; and an adjusting nut 22 threaded interiorly. The threaded ends of the members 18*21 are adapted to en ter thenut 22"and*-by right anchleft hand threading, are suitably adjusted towardsorfrom each Othen ai rmil 1f::menn n:; The connection of the plate member 16 to the staple 17 on the door 6 is similaiig.=a nd* trienrnom thep'osition shownin fulllin'es innn shown in dotted? lines *in Fig. '1. This toggle action necessarily exerts a 'pull ontensien'upon' the door bgr'esultin'g in the swinging of the door upon its hinges until the door is opened.

A similafs t' of devices" is used' 'when there are doiihle' -do oifs, nd" asishown; the door will be similarlyconnected' up and operated as just etplain'ed with" respect to the door b. The: shaft operating niotor' is connected in circuit with-switches or push buttons and battery or other" suitable source of electrical energy; and*the switches*or pushbuttons are located upon the outside er the garage oi other'buj ilding" in any desired positionhave not attempted" herein to illustrate such location with respect tothe doo i', asit'will readily beunders'tood that tlifel o'cationo-f a'particular' 'swi'tch or push batten i's inc'idental' tof'thef invention and will be positioned to suit the special requiremeiit's "of ea 'elr installation; For example; one' switch may beinside' the garage so that the -op erator may get into hisautomobile; 'tsn messiah; have the deer automatically opeii'aiid then driveout-.- He may have a seeon'd switch on the outsJi-de, which upon tetng re-sseawin'sfiartthemechanism in tion have the door? closed behind He h a Ve a' secoiid 'switch on the so'xtha't he mayopen the door to drive into the; garage and a second switch onuihe inside to close the: dnorzi It will be understood, ;oi:-- course, that-he may have a multiple switch i stead of a-p'lurality' of singl -switches;

' The? electriccircuitillustrated in Figs is' as' fo'llows Upon the shaft 3 is secured regulator-rhea It, one face of whi h is rev-ined Witha central coneentric* ring R, and r -'ou'terconcentric ha'lf rings R; R Mountedupon; the shaftg but suitably insulated-therefrom, is a brush arm B 'having ele'ctri'ea hcoiita-ct with the rin gs' Ri, and Rfi-"QT R and'o R accordingtUthe position, a t the time; on the brush ,B, Suitable switcliesi ori p'ush buttons S, S :and S are located where convenient. For example, in the: particular installation herein il-l ustfi'ate'd, switch s is a' conventional type: of"

three-way switch, and S and S are four? Wayi switchesu L, L Li," L arelines for the current; L connecting 'the motor M with V -the-ring R, while lines L and L connect the switches with therings R and B respectively. Contact points p, p, p

switch S. V

1 Asshown in-the diagrammatic View, Fig. 5, the current willflow along-line L to p, to p, to'line L ring R brushB to ring R, lineL through motor N1 and toline Lt This will cause the motor to operate and through the worm and worni gear, rotate the shaft 3', thereby raising thecrauk arm 6; the'liifting'rod 8 and the toggle connections toope'n the door Z). If now-the switch S" be turned so as to break: atfir? and p and conta'ct with th'epoints' 10 and p ,=the our rentwill fiow from'il/ to 17 9 L ring R brush B, ring R, L to motor M and line If, thus-a ain operating the shaft'B and turning the crank arm 6 down, thereby pushing the rofd and toggle connections down to cause the door to cldse;

' If there-be apair of do( )r"s, -and similar devices-totnose described foronedoor, corn nec't-the' second doo'r' and the shaft 3, then both doors'm'ay be opened andclose'd simul taneous'lyz- I i It is desirable t'ohave V a tension device of some sort to A exert pressure upon the back of the open door, when the rod is lowered fort the-door closing operation. One form of such is illustrated-herein in FigSJ-Q and 3, and co'mprisesa yielding or spring pressed arm-2'3 p'iVotaily' secured at 2-1 to a fixed support,- such asbra'cketfli on the wall; This arm has an' antifriction roller 260'1'1' its outer end-to contact-withflth'e door and its other end 27' pressesupoii a tension spring 28; said-spring" being connected at its other endto the support or bracket 253" When the door I) is opened; it presently" contacts with the roll'er 26 and movesthe arm 23", -27, about its pivot against the pressure oi the'sprin 28. VVhenthe door mechanism is actuated to close-the door; the tensioirof the spring 28-'exerts a strong pressure onthe arm 23; 27', returning the latter to its normal posi' tion, thus facilitating the 3 movement of the door and preventing any tendency to dead center in the togglelink mechanism;

. It will be understood that-toiav'oid acci-- dent or for an y other purpose; movement o'f the' door may bearres'ted-before being completely opened or closed'by' simply press inlg the-operating'switch or button a second time. Also that the door starts toopen gradually and= increasesitsmotion asthe m'ovement continuesy and that r in closing the doorythe' m'ovement starts' rath'er' rapidly and slows down so that the door closes gently and without jarring. It aisoKbe noticed that since-- the j connection" 17 is? at ,for-' example, are adapted for use with the the middle of the door 6 there is a lifting tendency upon the door as a whole, which prevents its lower edge from binding or scraping on the floor. Thus the door is moved easily and there is no tendency to wrench it out of shape or bring undue strain upon its hinges. The entire device is simple, easily operated by a mere novice and does not get out of order.

It will be understood that modifications may be made in the various details of the device without departing from the scope and spirit of my invention. Nevertheless, as a result of the successful operation of this device in use, I recommend the foregoing form in which I have illustrated my invention. However, I do not desire my invention to be limited to the details of form and arrangement shown and described, except as pointed out in the claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. A door opening and closing device of the character described, comprising a fixed support, a rotatable shaft mounted thereon, electrically operated means for actuating said shaft to rotate in one direction, a crank on the shaft, a lifting rod connected with the crank and actuated by the movement of the shaft, a hinged door and adjustable operative toggle connections between the end of the rod and the door.

2. A door opening and closing device of the character described, comprising a fixed support, a rotatable shaft mounted thereon, electrically operated means for actuating said shaft to rotate always in the same direction, a crank mounted directly upon the shaft, a lifting rod connected at one end with the crank and actuated by the movement of the crank, a hinged door, and two hinged link members connected to said lifting rod, the end of one member being secured to the door and the end of the other link member being secured to the fixed support.

3. A door opening and closing device of the character described, comprising a fixed support, a rotatable shaft mounted thereon, electrically operated means for actuating said shaft to rotate always in the same direction, a crank mounted directly upon the shaft, a lifting rod connected at one end with the crank and actuated by the movement of the crank, a hinged door, and two hinged link members connected to said lifting rod, the end of one member being secured to the door and the end of the other link member being secured to the fixed support, and means for adjusting one of said link members.

4. The door opening and closing device of the character described, comprising a rotatable shaft, electrically operated means for actuating said shaft, a lifting rod connected with and actuated by the movement of the shaft, and connections between the end of said rod, the door to be operated and a fixed support, saidelectrically operated means including an electric circuit, two terminal connections, a suitable switch button, and a brush arm on said shaft in contact with one side of the circuit and adapted also to contact with either one of the terminal connections.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention I aflix my signature, in the presence of two witnesses, this 31st day of March, 1923.

HARRY G. AINSWORTH.

WVitnesses:

H. W. DENNEY, SADIE JOHNSTON. 

